Title I Reading Program

TITLE I READING PROGRAM

School District 104, Summit, Illinois

2000 - 2001

Staff
Ceil Oakes, Coordinator of Title I, Principal of Graves Elementary School
Kathleen Byrne, Graves Elementary, Grades 1 - 3
Joan Dixey, Graves Elementary, Grades 4 - 6
Norine Hanlon, Graves Jr. High, Grades 7 - 8
Julie Augustinas, Wharton Elementary, Grades 1 - 6
Ken Koss, Walsh Elementary, Grades 1 - 6
Laurie Burda, Walker Elementary, Grades 1 - 6

Introduction
Title I is a federally funded program designed to target students who are living in low-income communities, and are also students who are at a disadvantage in becoming successful learners. These programs are to help at risk students who do not meet state learning goals in language arts. These students do not have to be identified as individually poor, but must be in a school that projects a rate of 60 percent poverty. Schools who possess numbers at or above the district-wide poverty rate are eligible for Title 1 funds.

GOALS OF THE READING SPECIALIST

To provide remedial instruction for pupils who are diagnosed - using diagnostic instruments - as disabled readers
Give children skills to successfully participate in classroom reading lessons
Ensure a focus on high standards for all children, including those at risk of failing to meet them
To insure a sequential growth in reading through the use of appropriate methods and suitable materials
To improve accountability
To act as a resource person
To serve as a public relations person for the school in interpreting the school's reading program to the parents and the public in general
To assist in developing the Language Arts curriculum
Significantly upgrade the quality of curriculum and instruction
Afford parents meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children at home and at school

FORMAT AND INSTRUCTION
The focus of the new Title I legislation is on approaches that encourage significant improvements in schools and increase instruction time for students. This instructional time is in addition and is supplemental to the time the regular classroom teacher gives to each student in language art studies. Pull-out as well as push-in class instruction is encouraged.

Title I teachers use a variety of supplemental and remedial curricular materials to help Title I students achieve academic success. These programs may include:

Intensive Phonics Program (Charlotte F. Lockhart) CHAR-L Inc.
Sounds Right, Read, Write (E. Brown, J. Jackson) Phoenix Learning Resources
Reading Sparkers Motivational Readers (D. Edwards, R. Petrillo) Childrens Research and Development Company, Inc.
Steck-Vaughn Reading Comprehension Series Steck-Vaughn Company
Developing Key Concepts in Comprehension (Barnell Loft) Mc-Graw Hill Publishing Company
Alternative Teaching Strategies: Second-Language Support Activities Harcourt Brace and Company
Scholastic Skills Program B - Vocabulary Skills (G. Rothstein) Scholastic Inc.
Developing Key Concepts in Comprehension (Barnell Loft) Macmillian
Alternative Teaching Strategies, Second Language Support, Harcourt Brace Co.
Close Connections (Barnell Loft) Mc-Graw Hill Publishing Co.
"Great" Series , Great Rescues, Mysteries, Disasters Steck-Vaughn Co.
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children (M. J. Adams, B. Foorman, I. Lundberg, T. Beeler) Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Reading Recovery Program

In addition to classroom individual instruction, before-school and after-school programs along with extended-year and summer-programs have been implemented to make maximum use of resources. School District 104 participates in all of these. Pull-out instruction is used by the Title I teacher for daily training of enrolled Title I class students. Whole-class lesson formats are used for the instruction of Intensive Phonics, phonology, and listening skills. Before-school tutoring programs are assisted by local high-school students. After-school programs include Afterschool Reading, Gifted, and Homework Club. Many Title I students participate in these. Both Mandatory and Enrichment Summer School programs are offered each summer. Limited English-proficient (LEP) students and students with disabilities are also served by Title I.

Selection of Title I Students

Students are recommended for Title I services either through teacher recommendation or by poor performance on national tests. Grades 1, 2, 3 children enter the program because they are having difficulty in their classroom Language Arts lessons. These students are performing below grade-level and need additional help to be independently successful in the classroom. A teacher fills out a Title 1 application when recommending students for placement. Sometimes these students are placed in Title I as a continuation of services from the previous year. Grades 4, 5, and 6 have national scores in folders, and are targeted for Title I services if their performance level in total reading, (GE) is one year below grade level. (Services may also be needed if there is a discrepancy (more than 20 points) (SAI) between verbal and non-verbal aptitude. Students who transfer from other Title 1 classes are accepted into Title I and are evaluated for a continuation of services.

When a child is placed into Title I classes, a letter is sent home to the Parent. (copies in both English and Spanish are included in this report) This letter informs them of the placement, and briefly explains the role of the Title I teacher. Title I students are first assessed by their classroom teacher. A second Title I Progress Report and Title I Report Card is also sent home to the parent throughout the year.

Each Title I student has a Title I folder (kept by Title I teacher). In this folder are: the Referral Form, Test scores, Progress Report copy, Report Card copy, planned remediation strategies with selected curriculum, and samples of work and assessment scores. (copies of the above forms are included in this report)

Assessment and Evaluation

Title I students are tested with their classroom peers in all language areas. These assessments include informal as well as Standardized Tests. In addition to grade-level tests, Title I students are assessed and evaluated by their Title I teacher. These tests and observations, are shared with the classroom teacher, and recorded in their Title I file. Grades 1 and 2 have developed reading/language assessments that are aligned with our school goals. These specially designed tests serve as a primary checklist of the child's reading skills. (copies of the test are included in this report) Grades 3 through 8 reference the SAT (Stanford Achievement Test) to evaluate skills and development.

IASA (Improving America's School Act, Goals 2000), Assessment Requirements:

are the same assessments used to measure the performance of all children, if the state measures the performance of all children;
are aligned with the state's challenging content and student performance standards and provide coherent information about students' attainment of such standards;
are used for purposes for which such assessments are valid and reliable and are consistent with relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical standards;
measure students' proficiency in academic subjects in which a state has adopted challenging content and performance standards;
are administered at least once between grades 3-5, and again between grades 6-9 ;
involve multiple up-to-date measures of student performance, including measures that assess problem-solving skills and understanding;
provide for reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with diverse learning needs, so achievement of these students can be measured against state content standards;
provide individual student interpretive and descriptive reports, including scores or other information on the attainment of performance standards;
allow for the desegregation of results within each state, district and school by gender, race, ethnicity, English proficiency, and migrant staus and enable comparisons between non-disabled/disabled students and economically disadvantaged students; and
include students who have attended the local education agency for one year, but have not attended a single school for a full academic year. The information from these students should be used only in determining the progress of the local education agency (U.S. Department of Education, 1996)

Based on the results of the needs assessment, comprehensive plans are developed to provide a guide for addressing the needs of the children. Various testing forms are used for Title I assessment. These are in accordance with the selected curricular program chosen for remediation. This performance criterion is the tool, which each teacher uses to measure the students rate of success and mastery of goals. Assessments may include:

Diagnostic Placement Tests (D. M. Bogart) Edcon, N.Y., ISBN 0-931334-18-7
Qualitative Reading Inventory - II, Addison Wesley Co.
Fox in a Box - An Adventure in Literacy, CTB/McGraw-Hill Co.
Complete Reading Disabilities Checklist (Wilma H. Miller) Center fro Applied Research

Administrative Support

To assure on- going support and success, professional development is made available to all District 104 Title I teachers. Allocated funds are used to allow teachers to attend conferences and other professional activities during school hours. The Title I team meets throughout the year to share strategies and materials, convey administrative information, to offer and receive encouragement and air concerns, to improve instruction based of students scores, and to develop a system for success within each school. Regular meetings headed by Mrs. Ceil Oakes, as well as frequent e-mail messages, help all Title I teachers of District 104 network efforts in improving student performance.

Technology development and innovative instructional materials are available to the Title I teachers. Funds are allowed for purchase of needed materials, supplies, and programs. Each teacher is allowed $500.00 per year for instructional supplies. Curricular materials are also provided. Web links are available to all teachers who seek further information on Title I programs, guidelines and assessments. Some of these may include:

Parent Involvement

Title I recognizes the importance of parental involvement to assure students' success. District 104 invites parents to participate in teacher/parent workshops. These workshops include activities to help parents assist their children's language development at home. These annual workshops are well attended. In addition to Title I workshops, Bi-lingual parent meetings, extended parent-teacher conferences and community outreach programs help all Title I parents actively participate in school sponsored programs.

Title I Reading Program Forms